Fate at the Boardwalk
by keroRiBBIT
Summary: Or How Neji went from Pervert to Prince Charming. [One Shot] [AU]


_**A/N:**_ _Because I'm not ready for Monday, here's a one-shot. :)_

 **Naruto (c) Kishimoto**

He was a determinist, he believed in fate. He believed that everything happened for a reason and there were no such things as accidents and coincidence. So when he felt an incessant urge to go to the boardwalk that day, he did not go against it. Never mind the fact that he slept for a measly three hours, he wanted to go for a jog anyway. Replacing his sleeping attire with a tank top that showed off his biceps and a some basketball shorts, he fastened his rubber shoes, grabbed his iPod and decided to jog the twenty-minute walk to the boardwalk.

It turned out that he wasn't the only one who thought so. When he got there, someone was already starting their warm up. From Neji's view of their backside, the person appeared to be a woman; if her slim build and soft curves weren't indication enough, her hair in two buns certainly were. Her hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined, palms facing out and stretched out above her head, legs stood apart. In what seemed to be agonizing slowness but in reality actually a smooth and flowing movement, she bent towards the left. From the first few rays of sunlight signifying the break of dawn, Neji could see the fine silhouette of her stretched body. Silver-white eyes tracing the fluid line of her body; from her interlaced fingers, her toned arms, the slight curve connecting her arms to her breasts, the dip of her waist, the delicious arch of her hips, her perfect bottom, to her long, long, shapely legs that was free for him to stare at with the short running shorts she's wearing.

Neji unknowingly smirked to himself. It looks as if fate was on his side today.

"If you could stop staring now, I'd be eternally grateful. I can feel you drilling holes in my back." Said the woman, now bending on the other side.

 _'Maybe not,'_ he thought.

He already did his warm up before jogging here, Neji didn't see the need to do so again; especially not in the presence of this woman who caught him staring at her wonderfully shaped behind. So without further ado, he plugged his ear buds, clipped his iPod shuffle on his tank top, and started his laps. He vaugely heard a huff and a mumble of "Pervert," from behind as he ran.

The boardwalk was a good two kilometers long. Twenty minutes of steady running, he had reached the end of it. Turning back around, he proceeded to jog back in his second lap. By now his back was wet with perspiration, his muscles crying in relief that the exercise brought. Not five minutes later, he saw a figure running into the distance towards him. It was her again.

Tendrils of hair had escaped her twin chignons. They lay plastered on her forehead, the sides of her face, and some on her neck. From there Neji's eyes were drawn to her chest; her breasts, clad in a sports bra, were bouncing as she ran and it took all of Neji's will power to not trail his eyes down her bare stomach. Schooling his features, he appeared as if he did not just check her out and kept his eyes forward as they passed one another. To a passerby, the whole thing would be perceived as meaningless and no exchange had been made at all. But Neji wasn't a passerby, was he?

In the brief moment that they were in close proximity he heard her say, "I saw that, you pervert." Even behind his ear phones he managed to hear the slight tease in her tone. She said it with such confidence too, knows how her appearance affected him, how she appealed to him; the Hyuga found that extremely attractive and extremely _sexy_. He could just hear her smirking; he couldn't help but smirk in return. Still, he kept his eyes forward and he did not stop nor did he look back and neither did she. And then they were running towards opposite directions.

After that, she didn't say anything anymore. As they crossed paths, her eyes looked forward and her breathing focused. He did the same as before; he would admire her figure and when she was close enough, he would look away. She didn't seem to mind like she did before, she was doing the same to him. He could feel her eyes linger on his torso, his tank top wet with perspiration and outlining what lay underneath; Neji felt his ego boost a bit.

Five minutes into his fifth lap, Neji found it peculiar that he hadn't sighted her form yet. Other people were starting to occupy the boardwalk now. Judging the height of the sun in the sky, he guessed it was around seven. He had been jogging for two straight hours. Deciding to end his run at the sixth lap, Neji lengthened his strides and quickened his pace. He had to go to work at 9am.

Halfway through, he found the unnamed woman on the ground clutching her left foot. The Hyuga slowed his jog into a walk. Panting, he wiped the sweat on his forehead and walked towards the woman on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was not her foot that she was handling, it was her ankle.

She didn't seem to notice his presence at first, too preoccupied at the painful throbbing in her ankle but when he crouched in front of her and lifted her hand from her foot, her head had snapped in his direction in the speed that would have gave her whip lash. But she didn't protest, simply looked him in the eye with a raised eyebrow, as if she wasn't in pain. Neji almost thought that she wasn't but when he lightly twisted her foot, she grimaced and slapped his hand away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She yelled at him.

Neji only smirked and gave a "Hn." Despite her protests, he grabbed her foot in both hands and slowly moved it twenty-five degrees to the right. When she showed no signs of increased pain, he moved it farther. As he was almost in forty-five degrees, she gave a yelp of pain and once again slapped his hands away.

Despite the glare sent his way, Neji said in a monotone, "It doesn't seem to be broken," he started, further examining her foot. "But judging the discoloration and the swelling, I'd say it's sprained." Removing his eyes from the injury, still crouching, he set his eyes on her face. She appeared to be surprised, by the way he effortlessly diagnosed her or the mere sound of his voice, Neji did not know. On the back of his mind, he acknowledged that this was the first time she heard his voice.

Looking at him dubiously, "Are you a doctor or something?" She asked.

"No, I merely know first aid," with that said, he stood up from his crouch and offered her a hand.

She looked at him, to his extended hand and back at him. "I'm no maniac, if you must know," he said with the same smirk he gave her before. She hummed for a while before taking his hand. She gave a scoff and said, "I beg to differ," she was teasing him again. All teasing was cut short however, when she unknowingly put weight on her injured foot and screeched in pain.

"Would you like me to carry you?" He asked.

"No!" Was her instant answer. The Hyuga raised a skeptical eyebrow and looking at her foot as if proving a point.

"Just," her eyes closed, trying to lessen the pain, "Just help me walk."

Neji had calmly assisted her, placing one of her toned arms on his shoulder and steadying her with an arm at her bare waist, effectively supporting her and innocently touching her smooth skin; he felt a smirk form on his lips. She seemed to have noticed it.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you," she said sardonically.

"Very," was his immediate answer. He did not feel the need to lie to this woman, Neji realized.

"This could be considered as sexual harrasment, Mister..." She drifted.

"Neji, Neji Hyuga," he answered her unspoken question. "Why? Are you going to sue me, Miss...," he retorted, mimicking her actions and leading her towards the start of the boardwalk, his fifth lap forgotten.

Before she answered, Neji heard what he thought to be bells ringing melodiously in the distance, she laughed. It was deep and light at the same time, airy, full of mirth and so incredibly sexy that he could not take his eyes off of her. Neji thought he liked hearing her laugh. "Tenten, Tenten Sarutobi," she said, her eyes twinkling. "And because you ask, I guess no. Prince Charming is taking me to the clinic after all,"

"So I'm Prince Charming now?" He teased.

She laughed and only nodded her head then she paused as if thinking very deeply, "You are taking me to the clinic," she looked at him, "Right?" She was looking at him, her doe-like eyes teasing him as she looked at him sideways, her smile so contagious that he found himself smiling too, if only slightly.

"What gave you the idea? For all you know I'd be pushing you in a van and sell your internal organs to some rich guy who'd pay a hefty price for it," he teased her with a smirk.

She gave a mocking 'Hah' and said, "Yeah, because you were _so_ looking at my internal organs every time we faced each other in the past two hours," she laughed again and he couldn't help but chuckle himself. "Was your examination of my 'internal organs' to your satisfaction?" Wiggling her eyebrows to tease him as she said so.

"Very," he repeated and when he heard the sound of bells that was her laugh again, he heard another sound joining in; it was him.

"So how did you manage to sprain your ankle?"

She chuckled a little, embarrassed. "It's a long story."

"It's a long walk."

Because his job be damned, fate was on his side today.

 _ **A/N:**_ _So I had this on ny mind for a while now. It was supposed to be a new chapter in P &P but it did not turn out as I thought it would be. Hehe. But still hoped you liked it. :)_

 _To Guest reviewer in This Time Around, if you find yourself here, the guy at the end was Lee. Pingful smile and all. :D_

 _Tell me what you think! Constructive crticism is very much appreciated._


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